boldikus Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Not sure where else to put this, or if there is an Atlantic City (or Steel Pier?) thread. If it's already been posted, my apologies - a search turned up nada. Revel to become water park CAMDEN - Revel Casino Hotel's new buyer plans to build a huge water park and run high-speed ferries from Manhattan as part of a grand redevelopment of the shuttered megaresort. Glenn Straub, a flamboyant Florida developer who is buying Revel out of bankruptcy, detailed some of his plans during a break this morning in a hearing on the final court order approving the $95.4 million sale. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Gloria Burns approved the order. Straub told reporters he wants to build the world's biggest water park at Revel, what he described as a $108 million project that would be both inside and outside the Boardwalk complex. He also mentioned having high-speed ferries or catamarans operate between Atlantic City and Manhattan to bring tourists from the New York market. Straub also disclosed that he will remove the Revel brand from the building and sell the naming rights to the casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genx24 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Cool idea in theory, but I doubt this will ever come to fruition. Especially those ferries. Atlantic City doesn't seem like the place where a waterpark would thrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoshiFan Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I hope it happens, it would be fun to go to Atlantic City during the off-season and go to a waterpark and also go to the casinos to play slot machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 I have a close friend who works for A.C.'s tourism/marketing dept - with all of the recent casino closings, there has been a lot of local chatter about trying to aim for a more family friendly feel, focusing less on gambling/nightlife and more heavily on amusements and family friendly attractions and resorts, so this could be the start of that. Personally we can get to A.C. in about 45 minutes on the train, but generally only stay at The Borgata which is on the other side of town from the beach/boardwalk. I'm also not a huge water park dude, but I would be interested to check this out if it does happen since its so close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 How did that family friendly thing work out for Vegas? Seriously though, I'd be surprised if this ever really sees the light of day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 ^ I'm not saying it would work for A.C. but the focus on nightlife/gambling certainly isn't working at this point. I think it's now 4 casinos/resorts that have closed in the last two years in A.C.? They really aught to concentrate on sprucing up the non-resort sections of the city, most of those areas are really kind of scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terdferg Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 It will fail. I worked in AC for 4 years until recently, and that area of the city is not going to bring anyone in. Revel is too far north on the island, away from anything, in the center of one of the rougher neighborhoods which looks like camden with a beach. Even on holidays, that end of the boardwalk is EMPTY. Revel needed to be built closer to midtown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 How did that family friendly thing work out for Vegas? Seriously though, I'd be surprised if this ever really sees the light of day. Agreed. Most (if not all) the states around NJ have casino gambling now, so most folks have zero reason to go to AC. And this idea really sounds like something that will never ever get built. dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 I believe Revel is just one of three or 4 major casinos/hotels that have closed in Atlantic City in the last few years. Doubt this will work, but the gambling market is gone now since so many other states have gambling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightnin Loops Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 I belive they are building a water park right next to Metlife Stadium in northern nj. Where xanadu has stood vacant for yrs. have no idea whats its called today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 So is the Revel Casino the "Hard Rock Park" of Atlantic City? Seems like such a HUGE and expensive resort to only last two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razor Roman Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Xanadu next to MetLife Stadium is going to have KatzenburgLand in it... Don't remember if it had a water park portion or not, but geographically the "day trip" market between that part of New Jersey and Atlantic City is entirely different, so I wouldn't see them conflicting too bad. Great Adventure with Hurricane Harbor is right in the middle of the two, and there's Action Park in North Jersey, plus Sesame Place just over the border in PA. If it's a GOOD indoor park it might be a draw in the cold months... I have not heard anything good about those Sahara Sam's places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Revel closed only a few weeks after I visited the place, and I was bummed to see it closed. Compared to the run-down Showboat and Taj Mahal (both of which had horrifically broken marquees that mangled their names), Revel felt modern and trendy and was more like a resort and less like a casino than the others. That being said, it's location was far away from the main strip of the "well known" casinos that were available, which I'd imagine led to its downfall. Revel and Hard Rock Park are continue examples of the importance of location. Just because you build it, doesn't mean they will come. I'm not holding my breath on the water park idea either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugart Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Location may played a small role in the Revels downfall but it's more likely the fact that they tried to be something that the market didn't want. Mainly a Las Vegas style casino that focused on dining and entertainment rather then gambling. The casino felt like an afterthought. The Borgata is in a similar location away from everything else but has consistently been the top grossing casino because at the end of the day they knew it was day trippers and little old ladies and not young people looking to party that spend more money. Not to mention the fact it was built in the worst economy since the Great Depression and 3 surrounding states now offer gambling. There are a ton of ideas being thrown around with AC in general, I'd be interested in seeing what sticks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Revel was an awesome casino the had one two main problems both tied into it opening at the wrong time? It is really hard to get the established whales to switch casinos. The clientele spent a lot of money on the rooms and in the restaurants but that doesn't bring in the big money. Money dried up in the New York area over the past five years. Revel was trying to follow a strategy that Borgota took, but there just weren't enough big time customers. And I'm not talking about people willing to drop $1,000 - $5,000 at the tables, I'm talking about the people pull out $25,000+ at a table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Linn Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 So is the Revel Casino the "Hard Rock Park" of Atlantic City? Seems like such a HUGE and expensive resort to only last two years. Pretty much. It cost over $2 billion to build, went into bankruptcy within a year, and was sold for pennies on the dollar. I personally hope they just re-open the casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 I think it's most famous moment is the Ray Rice incident... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zand Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 3 hours ago, Ulith said: Is this casino still operating? There is a new(ish) casino called "Ocean" that took over a few years after Revel closed. The giant escalator and rooftop terrace are pretty cool but otherwise a pretty forgettable property IMO. And no there is no giant water park or ferries to Manhattan or whatever other pipe dreams they thought of 10 years ago. From a casino standpoint, other than Borgata, there's nothing really worth visiting in AC anyway. And if you're not a casino fan, just wave as you drive by on your way to Ocean City and Wildwood. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missbaltimorecrabs_ Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 On 4/18/2024 at 2:37 PM, Zand said: And no there is no giant water park or ferries to Manhattan or whatever other pipe dreams they thought of 10 years ago. There is a waterpark, it just took over showboat instead of revel/ocean https://www.islandwaterparkac.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now